Pregnant woman injured in Mariupol maternity hospital bombing dies along with her baby

Expectant mother was seen stroking her bloodied abdomen after Russian attack

Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry the injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital in Mariupol. AP Photo

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

A pregnant woman and her baby have died after Russian forces bombed the maternity hospital in Mariupol where she had planned to give birth, medics have said.

A photo of her being carried on a stretcher from the bombed hospital in Ukraine last week epitomised the horror of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

In videos take in the aftermath of the bombing, the heavily pregnant woman could be seen stroking her bloodied lower abdomen as rescuers rushed her through the rubble.

Reports of the attack led to Russian accusations of “fake news”, and diplomats accused the Ukrainians of planting actors in the rubble.

The woman was taken to another hospital, closer to the front line, where doctors worked to keep her alive.

Realising she was losing her baby, medics said that she cried out to them: “Kill me now.”

Smoke rising in Kyiv, which mayor Vitali Klitschko says faces a 'difficult and dangerous moment' as Russian forces step up strikes. AFP

Pope Francis meets visitors holding the Ukrainian flag during his weekly general audience in the Vatican. AFP

An anti-war protester demonstrates against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in front of the Nato headquarters in Brussels. AFP

A poster in Saint Petersburg carries the letter Z, a symbol of support for the invasion, and reads: "We are proud of Russia! We are not ashamed!" AFP

Amid the Ukraine war, there's time for a seaside stroll in Odesa. Reuters

A child who fled from Ukraine to Belgium waits outside an immigration office in Brussels. EPA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives a standing ovation as he appears via videoconference to make an address to Canada's Parliament. AP

A woman walks with a bicycle next to a building damaged during the conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha, Donetsk region. Reuters

A firefighter outside a destroyed apartment building in a residential area of Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian soldiers pay tribute to Col Valeriy Gudz, who was killed in battle against Russian troops, at a cemetery in the town of Boryspil. AP

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a housing block hit by shelling in the Sviatoshynsky district, in western Kyiv. AFP

Two people were killed as a series of powerful explosions rocked residential districts in Kyiv just hours before talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume. AFP

The Met Opera and Chorus performs during 'A Concert For Ukraine' in New York City. AFP

A worker welds metal at the Interpipe Steel plant in Dnipro, Ukraine. Hundreds of Interpipe’s 10,000 employees have joined the fight against Russia. AP

A woman is rescued by firefighters from her apartment in a burning building that was hit by artillery shells in Kyiv. AP

Rescuers work at a building damaged by an air strike, in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A woman who fled Ukraine to Belgium waits outside an immigration office, in Brussels. EPA

Cars stuck at the Irpin River bridge, as Russia unleashes a barrage of air strikes on cities across Ukraine. AFP

A firefighter looks at a section of a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile on a street in the separatist Donetsk region. The Russian military said 20 civilians were killed by a ballistic missile launched by the Ukrainian forces. AP

Musician Davide Martello plays a piano near the Ukrainian border in Medyka, Poland. More than 1.76 million people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border into Poland, the Polish Border Guard reported on March 14. EPA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, snaps a selfie with a wounded man during a visit at a military hospital after fighting in the Kyiv region.AFP

Ukrainian soldiers carry rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles as they walk towards the city of Irpin, north-west of Kyiv. AFP

Troops carry an elderly woman on a stretcher across a makeshift bridge as Ukrainians flee Irpin. AFP

Irina Moprezova, 54, stands in front of a house that was damaged by an air strike in Irpin. AFP

The flags of Russia and Ukraine are projected on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, which a representative from the Jerusalem Municipality said is a show of support for diplomatic dialogue between the countries. Reuters

A person holds a Ukrainian flag during an anti-war demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier takes cover as people flee Irpin. AFP

Ukrainians shelter in an underground train station during the day in Kyiv. EPA

A Ukrainian serviceman walks carefully with his weapon in the city of Irpin, near Kyiv. AFP

Ukrainian people flee the city of Irpin, north-west of Kyiv. AFP

Ukrainian servicemen carry an elderly woman on a stretcher from the city of Irpin. AFP

A girl plays games on her tablet inside a subway carriage being used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv. AFP

A Ukrainian firefighter drags a hose inside a large food products storage facility which was destroyed by an air strike on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian troops with a Javelin anti-tank missile on the front line in the northern Kyiv region. Reuters

A woman carries her dog during an evacuation in Irpin. Reuters

A Ukrainian woman takes shelter in a metro station during the day in Kyiv. EPA

A member of the Ukrainian armed forces on patrol in Irpin. Reuters

A Ukrainian fighter takes cover behind a car in the city of Irpin. AFP

Firefighters at work after air strikes hit residential buildings in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine. AFP

A man wounded in an air strike is helped by medical staff in Novoiavorivsk, western Ukraine. Getty

The ruins of the Ukraine Hotel after recent shelling in Chernihiv. EPA

Surgeon Timur Marin found the woman’s pelvis crushed and hip detached. Medics delivered the baby via Caesarean section, but it showed “no signs of life”, the surgeon said. They then began work on the mother.

“More than 30 minutes of resuscitation of the mother didn’t produce results,” Mr Marin said. “Both died.”

In the chaos after Wednesday’s air strike, medics did not have time to get the woman’s name before her husband and father came to take away her body.

Doctors said her family had collected her remains, which meant she would not be buried in one of the mass graves being dug for Mariupol’s growing number of dead.

After being accused of war crimes, Russian officials claimed the maternity hospital had been taken over by Ukrainian extremists to use as a base, and that no patients or medics were left inside.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN and the Russian Embassy in London called the images “fake news”.

Associated Press journalists, who have been reporting from inside blockaded Mariupol since early in the war, documented the attack and saw the victims and damage first-hand.

Mariana Vishegirskaya, a beauty blogger on YouTube, was among the patients caught up in the attack. A photo of her fleeing the bombed building wearing pyjamas, with blood streaming down her face, went viral.

She gave birth to a healthy girl the day after the air strike, whom she named Veronika.

After photos and video showed her navigating down debris-strewn stairs, Russian officials claimed she was an actor in a staged attack.

Mariana Vishegirskaya gave birth to a girl a day after she was injured in the Russian bombing of a Mariupol maternity hospital. AP

Speaking to AP, Ms Vishegirskaya, still wearing the polka dot pyjamas from the day of the attack, described how she and other patients had to run for cover.

“It happened on March 9 in Hospital Number Three in Mariupol. We were lying in wards when glasses, frames, windows and walls flew apart,” she said.

“We don’t know how it happened. We were in our wards and some had time to cover themselves, some didn’t.”

Britain’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid batted away the accusations of fake news from the Russians, saying: “The only fake news is everything we hear from Russia.”

Asked if Russia’s attack on the maternity hospital in Mariupol constituted a war crime, he said: “Yes I think it is.”

“It is an appalling atrocity and a war crime because under international law you cannot attack health facilities, hospitals,” he told Sky News.

He pointed to the World Health Organisation’s statement which said it had documented evidence of at least 31 Russian attacks on Ukrainian medical facilities.

British Justice Secretary Dominic Raab will travel to the Hague on Monday “to offer Britain’s help in helping to gather the evidence” of potential war crimes committed in Ukraine, Mr Javid said.

“In fact, the most recent information I have from the World Health Organisation is they now have documented evidence of at least 31 such attacks of health facilities hospitals, including shelling,” he said.

“A couple of days ago of a cancer hospital, as well. So these are war crimes.”